dog collar

8/13/2019 Dog Collar

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Lace prep

For the sort of thing your after it's probably best to braid around a core which wouldeliminate any chance of your dogs hair getting caught in between the braid. For this your

need to bevel the edges of the strings which will produce a smoother surface also

preventing any sores developing which would as the rough edges would act like coarsesand paper rubbing on your dogs neck over time.

X

To measure around a core to find the amount of strings needed to cover it you have toremember that your being covering it with two layers of string, so first wrap a string around

the core then lay short samples of the width of strings your using around the core asshown in the right drawing.

To bevel the edges you need to champ the end of the lace in a vice or clamp. ou will bebeveling from the underside of the lace roughly at a !" degree angle. #ee the drawingbelow. $on't worry about getting this e%act, &'ve been doing for over a year now and still

mess it up, the main obect is to reduce the edge.

rough side of leather

cut line

smooth side of leather

& am left handed so & normally grasp the string between my thumb and finger in the righthand and have the knife in my left. The obect of your thumb and finger is to pull the string

and guide the string onto the knife which you hold at the !" degree angle on the lace.& ust use a cheap snap off hobby knife for this ob as the blade is thin and (uite sharp.

#ome people wear leather guards on their fingers to prevent cutting their selves andmaybe a good idea for you to start with & don't use one as the obect of this method is

mostly by feel and having a guard prevents that.

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ou will sometimes cut to much into the smooth side of the leather, this is normal but willnarrow the string, ust take your time when doing this.

&t is best to leave the bevel cutting to after you have cut the lengths of string you need for aob *normally ) + times length of proect or times the length for short proects-.

est veg tanned leather to use for braiding is shoulder not sides leather tends to stretch

at different rates sides are highly effected by this &.e strings from the shoulder,back willhardly stretch but those from around the legs can stretch to half their width, so & ust buyshoulder *)./mm or ! 0"o1-

&f you only have sides *and this goes for rawhide as well after soaking in warm water for )hour then leaving in a plastic bag over night- either cut by hand in strips or around the hide

about twice as wide as you need. Then stretch the strings and uniform the thickness ofthem by running through a leather cutter then cut with the lace cutter this ensures a

uniform width.

2fter getting the lace ready dye *if needed- then coat with o11ie leather conditioner *this

lubricates the leather and seals in the dye-

&f you need to taper lace this is (uite simply done with the lace cutter

2s shown in the photo above, you ust cut the lace gradually using narrower slots. &ftapering (uite a few strings then its best to mark the leather where to stop, that way eachlace will be e(ual. Their will be slight differences in the width of the lace where you stop

cutting but this will not show in the finished ob.2fter finishing the tapering remember to re0bevel the side of lace you have cut.

&f you use tapered strings without a core it will narrow the braid but with a core, thetapering of a braid is dictated by the core, tapering the strings in this instance only ensures

that they do not bunch up.


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Dog strap

&f you want it flat, then round and flat again for the buckle then the following is ust one waybut probably the easiest way.

For this method your have to cut the strings twice the length that you need. & will show the

stages for ! and / strings for awhile then go with / personally & feel that / would be bestand produce a better finish but the se(uences for ! and / are similar.

3 stands for under, 4 stands for over

First lay the strings out as shown below

wrap middle string left over right wrap top right string u), o), u)

5


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wrap top right string over ) wrap top right string u), o), u)

wrap left string u), o) wrap left string o), u), o), u)

wrap right string o) wrap top right string u), o), u)

wrap left string u), o) wrap top left string o), u), o), u)

!


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at this point you should tighten the strings do this carefully for each string to take up theslack, until it looks similar to the above two photo's. From here on you only pull the stringyou are braid and hold the rest lightly.#e(uence for the ! and / strings are 6

top left string u), o) top left string o), u), o), u)top right string u) top right string u), o) ,u)

7arry on doing this flat braid for the length you feel you need for the end strap.

4nce you have enough flat, start the round braid as shown6 the process for this is to braidaround the flat braid you have ust done, loosly at first.

8rap top left string behind and back 4) wrap top left string behind and back 4

wrap top right behind and back 4) carry on going from right to left takingeach string behind and back 4

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initially it is a good idea to use something solid to tighten up the round braid that youstarted as shown above.

4nce you have tighten the lace,remove the solid and replace with you core *here &have used rolled leather but string is ust as good 9mm diameter-. 3nlike with the flat braid, whenbraiding round a core you need to pull tight and holdall the other strings tight as well, this ensures a firmbraid onto the core with out any gaps.

&n order to do this you can use either a vice or clampas shown below allowing you to e%ert as muchpressure as needed.

7ontinue round braiding for the distance you need,then revert back to a flat braid, meaning the toppermost string on either the left or right side stopgoing behind with the string but do as you did beforewith the flat braid doing the o), u)

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From the round braid, you will have to braid a further ! inches of flat for the buckle. 4ncethis is done place the buckle onto the braid as shown about 5 inches from the round braid.;ush the metal rod of the buckle through the braid and fold the braiding back onto itself.

Make sure that the metal rod of the buckle is the right side of the buckle beforecarrying on and not the wrong side as I have done in this example.

There are numerous ways of attaching the strings to the back, but & prefer this way as itseems the most secure apologise for the photo's but the idea is to push ! strings throughthe middle of the flat braid the first four being those numbered above to come out of thefront as shown in the photo above right, the ne%t four are braided as ! flat *shown above

left- and pushed through the braid the same as the first four.


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These sets of four strings are tired together by first a crown knot *as shown above left-then a wall *shown above right and below left- and then a crown again. Tighten each knotas you go. These have to be really tight so use pliers if needed to get a real good grip onthe strings.

=astly to make the round braid really smooth, you need to roll it between two hardsurfaces, the picture above shows a piece of steel and a granite using the steel bar to dothe rolling.

That should be it. 8hen you buckle it up ust push the rod of the buckle through the braidand that acts as good as a hole punched into leather.

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